THUMP

The other day I heard a thump come from our patio window. I walked over to look out and sure enough there lay a young pine siskin. I went outside and picked him up. He was still breathing. I noticed a couple of areas on his body where he had swelling. One swelled area was affecting his eye. And another was next to it

but not on the eye.
                                                      

                                  He was doing well when I took these photos.

I went to my basement and brought up an old bird cage I had kept.
After lining the bottom of the cage with newspaper I put a small flat container of water on the bottom of cage.

I gently laid him inside on the newspaper. I couldn’t believe how small he was. Since it was cold outside, I thought the warmth of the house would help.
Using my finger, I trickled a drop of water on to his beak and he anxiously drank it. After repeating this a few more times with success, I let him rest.

About an hour later I slowly reached into the cage to pick him up. He responded by hopping up and clinging to the side of the cage. I reached forward to put him in my hand again.
The bumps were just about gone but there was something still in his eye. I gently removed the obstruction with a q-tip. I didn’t know if was either frightened or trusted me. He didn’t try to peck at my hand or wiggle.

When opening my hand to free him he flew and landed on a rock on our fireplace. I got the camera and took a couple of photos. Then reaching up for him, I cupped my hand to pick him up.

He was looking much better. The bumps were gone, so I put him on the patio where he sat for a moment, before flying away.